


New Developments

by desertno3



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Imprinting (Twilight), M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:40:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23493358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/desertno3/pseuds/desertno3
Summary: You had lost count of the number of times Paul had come into the shop where you worked. The first few times, he kept showing up to buy things but these days he was just shamelessly here to hang out and talk to you when there were no customers around.
Relationships: Paul Lahote/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 106





	New Developments

“Why do we sell these?” Paul asks, picking up a flimsy, plastic gardening tool and waving it at you.

“Some people actually use those, Paul.” You say, looking at him amusedly. “Also, _we_? You don’t even work here anymore.”

“Whatever,” He mutters, making a face at you and throwing the product back in the box it came from. “You know what I mean.”

You roll your eyes as you return to your current task of restocking shelves while Paul continues to make his way around the small hardware store, picking up and scrutinizing items like a child who had been allowed to roam freely. This wasn’t an unfamiliar situation for you by any means. Back when he actually did work here, this was one of the many things he would do to pass the time between customers and, just like now, you’d be in the store too, laughing as he did so.

“You know, if you wanted to work here again you could just ask.” You told him, a teasing lilt in your voice.

“Oh, don’t tempt me,” You hear him say from the far corner of the store he had meandered over to. “I didn’t mind working here.”

You smiled. You didn’t either, not when he was around. You didn’t know what it was about Paul but his presence always put a smile on your face. It wasn’t until he quit working here that you realized just how much he made the job bearable.

He didn’t even tell you he was quitting. He was out sick for a week and the next thing you knew, your boss rang to inform you Paul wasn’t coming back. A part of you felt hurt. Surely he would have told you he was going to quit. After all, you had spent countless amounts of time around each other and you felt like you were close enough friends. At the same time, you didn’t blame him. You had never actually hung out outside of work so maybe you had read too much into the relationship, maybe you weren’t as close as you thought. Regardless, in his absence, you missed him. You missed the dumb banter that came with his presence and missed having someone to talk to during your shifts. One of the only reasons you liked working here was because he would be around, too, but you didn’t even realize that until he was gone.

After months of not seeing him – not even around town – you were pleasantly surprised when he walked in one night, two other friends in tow, looking to buy a few supplies. You had wanted to ask him so many questions. _How was he? Where had he been? What he was up to?_ But it had been a fairly quick transaction and he had been a bit subdued, letting one of the other guys – Jared – do most of the talking while he hovered behind him. He had smiled at you but that was it and before you could do anything else, they were out the door.

You thought he would probably disappear back into obscurity, back to wherever and whatever he was doing now that kept him so hidden and far from your radar. You were surprised when he did the exact opposite of that. At this point, you had lost count of the number of times Paul had come into the shop since that night. The first few times, he kept showing up to the store to buy more things but these days he was just shamelessly here to hang out and bother you when there were no customers around. You were never truly bothered by it, though. You were genuinely glad to have him back in your life.

“Hey, Paul?” You asked when he had finally stopped roaming the store, opting instead to lean against the shelf beside you as you continued to restock.

He raised an eyebrow at you, “What’s up?”

“Why’d you quit?”

He paused for a moment, blinking like he was surprised you’d asked. His fingers drummed against the shelf as he thought about it.

“I dunno,” He eventually said. “I started helping out more around the rez so I didn’t have time for this job anymore I guess.”

You nodded in understanding. “Fair enough.”

“It probably sucks without me, huh,” He said, a cheeky grin on his face. “I was the life of this place.”

“Yeah, sure,” You retort, deadpan, though you can’t help but sport a matching grin. “Keep telling yourself that, Paul.”

-

What you didn’t know – what you couldn’t have known – was the fact that Paul had imprinted on you the moment he walked into the store and saw you that night. That Jared had to kick him out of his stupor, which you thankfully hadn’t noticed, and that he hadn’t stopped thinking about you since.

What you didn’t know was that he was absolutely not in a hurry to introduce you to the pack – or even tell you there was a pack – even though members of said pack were dying to meet you. He didn’t want to drop all these supernatural secrets on you so soon and, plus, he kind of enjoyed getting to have regular, non-shape-shifter related conversations with you whenever he came by the store. As for the pack, curiosity eventually got the better of some of them and they started stopping by when they knew Paul was on patrol – they valued their lives enough to know it was a bad idea to visit when Paul was there spending time with you. Personally, you had no idea where this influx of Quileute boys looking for hardware tools came from but you didn’t mind it, you knew they were Paul’s friends and you enjoyed their company just as much. Needless to say, Paul was beyond annoyed when he realized it was happening.

Once, Jared told Paul that he would invite you to one of their bonfires if Paul wasn’t going to do it himself and that ended up in a tussle and yet another trip to your store for materials to fix Sam’s obliterated fence.

As much as Paul tried to keep you from it, he knew he had to tell you the truth sooner rather than later and when he finally did, you were floored – to say the least. He told you everything about shape-shifting besides the imprinting because as much as everything in him yearned to tell you about it, he figured that was a conversation for a whole other time.

You took it better than Paul thought you would (though to be fair he had let his imagination run wild) but that didn’t mean you took to all of it in an instant. It was some time before you fully came to terms with the fact that these things you had only thought existed in stories and legends were actually _very real_. But since then, after the initial shock had worn off, you had been a never-ending stream of questions and Paul was more than happy to field your queries. He was honestly just thankful you were interested in knowing more about this aspect of his life and not running for the hills instead.

-

You quickly came to learn almost everything about shape-shifting. You knew about their patrols, about the mind link, about the pack dynamics – everything. You learned a lot about the advantages and the disadvantages of being a shape-shifter partly because Paul would tell you about them but also because you would see it first hand. Like right now, as you leave the storeroom to find Paul dead asleep and slumped over on the small counter next to the register. You sigh, placing the boxes in your arms down before straightening up and assessing the situation. You knew how much patrols could run them ragged but this was excessive. You had been gone for all but five minutes.

“Paul,” You say, trying to rouse him. “ _Paul_.”

“Hm?” He hums, though he’s clearly still somewhat in the realm of sleep. He doesn’t move a muscle, still hunched over, head resting on his forearms.

“Go home and get some sleep in an actual bed, Paul.”

“I have patrol soon.” He informs you, his peculiar sleeping position muffling his words.

“ _I know,_ ” You say, crossing your arms as your brow furrows with slight concern for the boy before you. “I don’t know why you didn’t just stay in bed like a normal person.”

“I wanted to see you.”

You blink in surprise at the statement, ignoring just how much it made your heart skip a beat. You tell yourself to not take it to heart too much, you’re clearly still talking to a man half asleep.

“You know that’s not a great reason for getting up this early.”

“ _I_ think it’s a solid reason.” He says, still mumbling into his arms. “You’re my favorite person in this damn town.”

At this point, you’re blushing profusely and you’re grateful he’s still slumped over on the counter with his eyes closed, unaware of just how flustered you had become.

“You’re delirious,” You joke, walking over to him and trying to nudge him off the counter. You know it’s futile, considering the hulking mass that he is, but you do it anyway. “Get some sleep.”

“I mean it though,” He tells you, chuckling at your actions and playfully swatting your hand away. He sits up, rubbing his face blearily and blinking away the sleep before he turns to you with a smirk on his face. You narrow your eyes at him. A smirk from Paul never meant anything good.

“What?”

“It’s cute that you care about me.” He says, a glint in his eye, and your eyebrows raise in disbelief before you scoff.

“Shut up,” You mutter, stomping away to busy yourself with opening one of the boxes you had just brought in with you, cursing the raging blush you’re sure has returned to your cheeks. “I just don’t want people walking in to find a shirtless, six-foot-tall man asleep next to the cash register.”

He laughs out loud. “Sure.”

Paul makes no move to leave the shop, despite your urging for him to go home and sleep. Instead, he leans against the counter and watches you work, a fond smile on his face.

“If you’re not leaving,” You tell him. “I’ve got another question for you.”

“Shoot.”

“Why did you tell me?”

His heart stops in its tracks, every ounce of drowsiness in his body eradicated by that simple question.

“What do you mean?” He asks even though he knows exactly what you’re referring to. He’s stalling for time, trying to think of a way out of telling you about the imprint sooner than he planned. He briefly wonders if he should lie to you about it, give you a reason that’s far from the actual truth, but decides that’s probably a bad idea.

“Why did you tell me about the shape-shifting thing?” You elaborate. “Like… why was I allowed to know?”

“It’s pretty complicated.”

You gesture around the empty store, “I’ve got time.”

He lets out a big exhale in resignation, knowing there’s probably no way out of this. He knows you well enough by now to know that you would most likely be accepting of it than not, but he wishes he didn’t have to tell you at this exact moment. He had thought of plenty of scenarios in which he tells you that you’re his imprint but telling you in the middle of the hardware store had never been one of them. You watch him curiously as his brow furrows in contemplation, thinking through all of this.

“Okay, fine,” He says eventually. “But… don’t freak out.”

You shake your head to indicate that you won’t – you handled the shape-shifter revelation just fine, after all – and he sighs again, steeling himself for the confession.

“Okay. There’s this thing that shape-shifters do called imprinting. Which is when someone like me finds their–” He frowns, trying to think of the right word to describe it. He curses the fact that he had imagined this moment plenty but hadn’t yet thought of the best way to explain imprinting to you.

“I don’t really know the best word for it. I guess you could call it a soulmate? Actually, forget I said that,” He says immediately, seeing the surprised look on your face. “Soulmate makes it sound too intense. All you need to know, really, is that it’s a kind of bond. When a shape-shifter imprints on someone, it means that they care about that person and, y’know, they want to look out for them. Keep them safe and stuff like that.”

He pauses, anxiously running a hand through his hair before continuing. “I was allowed to tell you about everything because I imprinted on you.”

_Ding._

You both stare at each other wide-eyed as a customer walks through the door, interrupting this moment at the worst time imaginable. You’re in a daze as you attend to them, your heart hammering away and your mind reeling in the immediate aftermath of Paul’s revelation. Paul, meanwhile, took to pacing the aisles restlessly, waiting for the customer to leave and anxiously wondering what was going through your mind right now.

A heavy silence settles over the store the moment they’re gone, Paul coming back over towards the counter as you decide to continue unpacking boxes in an attempt to expel some of the nervous energy that had materialized within you in the last ten minutes. You didn’t even know why your body was reacting like this. Logically, it wasn’t that much weirder than finding out Paul could turn into a giant wolf at will and _God knows_ you wouldn’t be opposed to being Paul’s soulmate. But… it was just a lot to take in all at once. You know Paul’s waiting for you to say something but you don’t know what to say. You tell him just as much.

“I know,” He says, wincing apologetically. “I wasn’t going to tell you all of this so soon, you know, but… you asked.”

You glance at him to find him looking at you like he’s worried you might bolt out the door. Putting the box cutter down, you stand and face him.

“Would you have _ever_ told me?”

“I mean, eventually, yeah,” He says, digging his hands into his pockets sheepishly. “But, God, I was planning to ask you out on at least one date before I did.”

You can’t help the strange, astounded laugh that bubbles out of you in response to that statement.

“Really?”

He chuckles at your surprise, just the slightest tinge of pink to his cheeks.

“I’ve been wanting to ask you for a while,” He tells you with a smile. “But I wanted to be sure you would actually say yes, you know?”

You stare at him in disbelief, an awed smile on your face, but before you get a chance to say anything, the door of the shop is busted open by a somewhat exasperated Jared. His eyes quickly scan the small store before landing on the both of you.

“Dude,” He says to Paul. “Patrol started half an hour ago!”

Paul’s glaring at him, clearly annoyed at being interrupted for a second time, but it doesn’t phase the boy. He just rolls his eyes and tells Paul to hurry up before disappearing out the door as quickly as he entered.

Paul turns back to you, his eyes scanning your expression for any inkling that maybe he had read you wrong, that maybe you were, in fact, repulsed by this newfound development in your relationship.

“Can we talk more about this later?” He asks and you nod in response.

Feeling assured, he sends you a small, grateful smile before turning to follow Jared outside. As you watch him go, you gather just enough courage to call out to him right as he’s past the threshold.

“Hey, Paul?”

He turns around to face you, eyebrows raised inquisitively.

“I’d say yes, by the way.” You tell him with a smirk. “If you asked.”

The grin on his face makes your heart soar.

“Good to know.” He says, winking at you before leaving. As the door closes shut behind him, you shake your head fondly, trying to ignore the giddy beating of your heart.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to Tumblr: [desertno3.tumblr.com](https://desertno3.tumblr.com/)


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